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There were chaotic scenes as thousands of soccer fans – some without tickets – tried to get into the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami to watch the Cop America final, leading to arrests, injuries and people suffering heat exhaustion.
Fans of finalists Argentina and Colombia were seen breaking through entrance gates, climbing through air vents and trying to dodge police officers, leading to the match start being delayed by over an hour.
Fans started arriving about three hours before the 8pm start time for the final, waiting in the humidity and heat for the gates to be opened.
The gates were opened but quickly closed again as security officials witnessed heavy crowding and called for all fans without tickets to leave the area, causing kick-off to be pushed to 9.15pm.
Security allowed fans, who grew impatient and frustrated with the delays, to re-enter slowly at around 8.10pm, but the chaotic scenes continued as fans tried to break through the railings and some began climbing over fences to get inside.
Daniella Levine Cava, Mayor of Miami-Dade County and James Reyes, Chief of Public Safety for the county issued a joint statement on Sunday night saying they were “outraged” by the events at the Copa America Finals, organized by CONMEBOL, with the Miami-Dade Police Department providing security along with other agencies.
They said that the MDPD assigned over 550 officers, including the Priority Response Team, to the 65,000-capacity stadium and brought in more personnel from other jurisdictions to support the safety and well-being of attendees.
"Our top priority must be the safety and security of all our residents and visitors, and we urge everyone in attendance at tonight’s game to abide by all directives from law enforcement and security personnel for the safety of all attendees," they said, adding they received a security briefing from stadium operations for the exit plan after the game and urged spectators to listen to law enforcement and stadium staff.
"Let’s be clear: The situation should never have taken place and cannot happen again,” they wrote. “We will work with stadium leadership to ensure that a full review of tonight’s events takes place immediately to evaluate the full chain of events, in order to put in place needed protocols and policies and all future games."
In initial statements from Hard Rock Stadium and CONMEBOL announcing a delayed start to the match kick-off, they said that fans without tickets to the event will not be permitted to enter the stadium.
Hard Rock Stadium said that thousands of fans showed up without tickets and tried to forcibly enter the stadium, which in turn put other fans, security and police officers at extreme risk – causing security to shut the gates to try and control the entry process.
In the aftermath of the event, Hard Rock Stadium issued a follow-up statement, saying numerous “unruly fans” without tickets tried to overpower security at their entry points.
Even after some stadium gates were strategically closed and re-opened to try and control the crowd and to try and let ticketed fans enter, some supporters continued to engage in “illegal conduct,” the stadium said, fighting police officers, breaking down walls and barricades and vandalizing the stadium, something they said has left the stadium with “significant damage.”
After officials decided to postpone the game, they decided to open the stadium gates “for a short period of time for all fans” to prevent stampedes and serious injury, the Hard Rock Stadium continued in its statement.
The gates were closed once the threat of fans being crushed was alleviated, but at this time, the venue was also at capacity, and the gates were not reopened.
Unfortunately for some of those who had purchased tickets to the Copa America final, they were not able to enter the stadium after the gates were closed.
“We understand there are disappointed ticket holders who were not able to enter the stadium after the perimeter was closed, and we will work in partnership with CONMEBOL to address those individual concerns,” the stadium wrote.
“Ultimately, there is nothing more important than the health and safety of all guests and staff, and that will always remain our priority.”
The stadium added that it is thankful for law enforcement who worked the event and will work with them to identify anyone who engaged in illegal conduct.
“It is disappointing that a night of celebration was impacted by unlawful and unsafe behavior and we will fully review the processes and protocols in place tonight and work with law enforcement to endure such an event never happens again,” they concluded.
Argentina won the trophy with a 1-0 victory.
